Sadhana forest was founded in 2003 when Yorit and Aviram Rozin took the initiative to re-create the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest in India by planting trees. When you visit Sadhana Forest today, it’s hard to imagine that just 20 years ago, it was a piece of arid land. The once-dry landscape has been transformed into a lush green forest full of a diverse range of animals.
Over the years, Sadhana Forest grew into a community focused on introducing people to a different way of living – one that is sustainable and in alignment with nature. The initiative now has projects in India, Haiti, and Kenya, and they’re planning on starting one in Namibia soon as well.
We spoke to Aviram, who told us more about Sadhana Forest and what a day of volunteering in the forest looks like.
Can you tell us something about Sadhana Forest?
Sadhana Forest focuses on the sustainability of the bioregion while looking at the larger picture as well. We strive to create more social sustainability and less self-sustainability, and work closely with and for local people. At the same time, we’re trying to be relevant to everyone’s needs. In Haiti, for example, we grow food forests on a piece of land that was dry before. We want to support the local people here so that they have enough food.
How did you come up with the idea to start this community?
We actually didn’t intend to start a community, we just wanted to live on a piece of land and plant trees. So when Auroville (India) gave us this piece of land to manage, that’s exactly what we did. Our goal was to recreate the indigenous Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest that used to be here. When people saw that we were planting trees, they started coming and saying that they wanted to volunteer. Then more and more people heard about it and wanted to help too, and that’s how Sadhana Forest was born. It all happened very naturally, we just lived our lives and let it flow.
How do water conservation and reforestation work?
You have to do water conservation first, and then there will be greenery. The idea is to distribute water evenly on the land, as that’s what brings in vegetation. When you start controlling the runoff of water in this area, forests will grow, even if you don’t plant trees. Water standing on the surface will attract mammals and birds that bring seeds with them. As the surface of the soil will be moist, this moisture will enable these seeds to grow.
What we found out that I didn’t know is that birds and other animals prefer areas that have been naturally generated, not the ones that we planted. There’s less wildlife in the areas where we planted trees ourselves compared to where we just did the water conservation. You can almost say the animals came, created the forest for themselves, and now live in their ideal environment. They know how to create the forest better than we will ever know.
How long does it take to see results with water conservation?
It took about 5 or 6 years to start seeing results. Although it looks like nothing is happening during the first years, there are processes happening that are invisible to the human eye, and then, suddenly, you can see a lot of growth!
How do you decide in which countries to start a new Sadhana Forest project?
So far, it all happened unplanned. We started a Sadhana Forest in Haiti after the earthquake of 2010 because a friend of mine sent me a message saying Haiti really needs help. Then in Haiti, I met a woman who worked in Kenya, and she told me that from what she had seen of Sadhana Forest in Haiti, she thought it would fit well in Kenya too. So then we went to Kenya – and that’s how Sadhana Forest Kenya was born in 2014.
We’re a small organization with little funding, so we can’t really plan expansions, we need to wait for the right opportunities. There are so many communities that need our help. Even if we had hundreds of millions of dollars, we wouldn’t be able to answer the needs of all the communities in the world that live in arid places and are severely malnourished. We have to wait for the funding and the community to come together. When both of these align, we can start a new project.
Is there a difference between the Sadhana Forest projects in the different countries?
Yes, we look at the problems in the specific area, then decide what to focus on. In Haiti and Kenya, for example, food is a problem, so we grow a lot of food on trees in food forests. In India, food is not that much of a problem, not for us and not for the local community, so here we concentrate on water conservation.
What does a day of volunteering look like in Sadhana Forest?
In Auroville, we wake up around 5:30 am and at 6:00 am, we go to the first seva, which is a Sanskrit term for “service”. The first seva lasts until breakfast, which is around 9:00 am, and it mainly consists of planting and watering trees, taking water conservation measures, and other tasks like that. Then, between breakfast and lunch, there’s a second seva. This one is dedicated to internal activities like maintaining the kitchen, construction work if something needs to be constructed, etc. The afternoon consists of cooking and cleaning shifts, but if someone is not on a shift, then they’re free to explore the area, read, meditate, or do whatever they feel like doing.
People can volunteer for a minimum of 4 days but we really need long-term volunteers – people who stay with us for a couple of years or even a lifetime. We need their help to spread the message that there’s no need to despair and that there’s a lot we can do to make the world a better place. You don’t need to know anything. All you need is goodwill and with that, we will teach you how to be very effective in reducing global warming. The people who stay with us for a long time become part of the family and they get a lot of support from us. They get free accommodation, free food, and a small monthly stipend. We really want to support their needs.
If our readers would like to volunteer, where can they apply?
You can email us – we have space for everyone! The moment someone contacts us, we send them an email with all the information they need so that they know exactly what to expect. This is important because we have a very specific lifestyle which includes veganism, no drugs, and no alcohol both on and outside our campus.
What is your number one tip to be more sustainable?
Be vegan – that’s my number one tip. Vegan food is available all over the world, and being vegan has a huge positive impact on the planet. It’s definitely the most effective thing you can do.
However, there are a lot of things you can do in addition to being vegan. To buy consciously is one example. People often think they can’t do anything about climate change, but one of the biggest tools they have to change the environment is their credit cards. Every single day, people make so many decisions with their credit cards that are critical for the environment. Very few people go to the supermarket thinking: “I am going to buy the most compassionate food. The most compassionate food towards the planet, towards the people who grow it, towards the people who bring it to the supermarket, and towards the people who work in the supermarket.” You can check all of these things and become aware of them.
Do you love Aviram’s tip as much as we do, and would you like to learn more about Sadhana Forest (maybe even volunteer)? Check out their channels below.
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